UN Panel: Israeli Settlements Are Illegal

GENEVA -- The United Nations' first report on the broad policy of Israeli settlements concluded Thursday that the government's practice of "creeping annexation" clearly violates the human rights of Palestinians, and called for an immediate halt.

In its report to the 47-nation Human Rights Council, a panel of investigators said Israel is violating international humanitarian law under the Fourth Geneva Convention, one of the treaties that establish the ground rules for what is considered humane during wartime.

The Israeli government has persisted in settling Palestinian-occupied territories, including East Jerusalem and the West Bank, "despite all the pertinent United Nations resolutions declaring that the existence of the settlements is illegal and calling for their cessation," the report said.

The settlements are "a mesh of construction and infrastructure leading to a creeping annexation that prevents the establishment of a contiguous and viable Palestinian State and undermines the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination," it concludes.

French judge Christine Chanet, who led the panel, said Israel never cooperated with the probe, which the council ordered last March. At a news conference, she called the report "a kind of weapon for the Palestinians" if they want to take up their grievances before The Hague-based International Criminal Court.

Comment: My question is what do ..we do about it. The United States is an extremely tricky situation. I assure you we have no hunger for another war over the middle east which seemed like an endless almost un winnable war. However the United States voted against Palestinians along with only seven other country's.

If Iran or Syria. (Which Iran has stated it has wanted to wipe Israel off the face of the planet) go to war. We have to by our alliance support them. I have a few questions since I'm not educated on this topic in detail. First. Why do we have such a strong alliance with Israel. What exactly are they providing to the US in exchange for security and protection. We backed them in voting down Palestinians at the UN.

We even turned the other way while they built settlements. Now the UN has ruled them illegal. What do we go from here. Do they simply tear down the building's they already built. The question is WHOM can enforce the laws the UN seeks illegal. For years the UN has wanted to stop the Blood Shed in Syria however no action has actually been taken.

Not a surprise. I'm sure Israel will ignore the report and just keep doing what it has been.

'Twas a cutlass swipe or an ounce of lead
Or a yawing hole in a battered head
And the scuppers clogged with rotting red
And there they lay I damn me eyes
All lookouts clapped on Paradise
All souls bound just contrarywise, yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!

Not a surprise. I'm sure Israel will ignore the report and just keep doing what it has been.

If the United States supports Israel right to Ignore them or even worse supports that. What happens when we need the UN for something. (We call on the UN for all sorts of things ..war crimes..human rights) does it not discredit us if we choose to ignore their ruling. How does that make us better then China or Russia who actually blocked the vote on sending troops to Syria in the early wake of the blood shed.

If the United States supports Israel right to Ignore them or even worse supports that. What happens when we need the UN for something. (We call on the UN for all sorts of things ..war crimes..human rights) does it not discredit us if we choose to ignore their ruling. How does that make us better then China or Russia who actually blocked the vote on sending troops to Syria in the early wake of the blood shed.

It doesn't make you better. The US, Chinese, and Russian governments are pretty much the same.

The UN sucks, they have no power, no influence and zero will to act on anything and the things they decide about are too few, too little and too late. A massive waste of resources. What the UN decides has little meaning to anyone, because if there's something they will never do, it's to take action.

What they should've done long ago is put down forces in the area and put and end to all the damned fighting that keeps on going. To stop Israels expansio and to stop the Hamas terrorists. But that'll never fucking happen.

Israel is wrong about the settlements. But the palestinians and Hamas are even more wrong. Both need to drop their stuff and get over this crap already.

If the United States supports Israel right to Ignore them or even worse supports that. What happens when we need the UN for something. (We call on the UN for all sorts of things ..war crimes..human rights) does it not discredit us if we choose to ignore their ruling. How does that make us better then China or Russia who actually blocked the vote on sending troops to Syria in the early wake of the blood shed.

this.

Kinda sucks we are so close to them. The US might play it safe and just stay out of it.

The UN sucks, they have no power, no influence and zero will to act on anything and the things they decide about are too few, too little and too late. A massive waste of resources.

Israel is wrong about the settlements. But the palestinians and Hamas are even more wrong. Both need to drop their stuff and get over this crap already.

I think the UN serves as a useful barometer of world governmental opinions. Like we could see a shift in Chinese policy towards North Korea because of NK's missile launch, for example.

'Twas a cutlass swipe or an ounce of lead
Or a yawing hole in a battered head
And the scuppers clogged with rotting red
And there they lay I damn me eyes
All lookouts clapped on Paradise
All souls bound just contrarywise, yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!

Pretty much this. And the UN can't do shit because the US has to veto all actions against Israel because their politicians would lose the comming election if they didn't.

The only way things are gonna change are if either Israel comes to their senses and goes ahead with the "two state plan" or the jewish population in America becomes a non-factor in elections.

If the US didn't back Israel, Israel would be wiped from the face of the Earth by every single neighbouring country that hates them because many (though I know there are those that want peace, but they will never be heard) Muslims still make Jihad upon Jews for being Jews.

It doesn't make you better. The US, Chinese, and Russian governments are pretty much the same.

Speaking from the prescriptive of the United States they generally like to point out the sweat shop like conditions China workers have to go through. Russia jailed a band because it spoke on Anti President. The US uses the UN for generally a ton of things. Seeking it out like a neutral party. In short they lead us to believe we are better at least when it comes to human rights..

However if United States ignores the UN ruling and Israel continues to build settlements. Then does it not give an excuse to other Country's to reject the UN when it calls on action for them. For example in Iran they tortured people and held them in Gitmo style conditions. They told the people they arrested. The United States does it as a way to excuse their own actions.

I think the UN serves as a useful barometer of world governmental opinions. Like we could see a shift in Chinese policy towards North Korea because of NK's missile launch, for example.

What the Chinese decide they want to do doesn't affect the UN's complete inability to act or do anything useful. Kosovo is a horrendous reminder of that, where people fleeing persecution were turned around into the arms of the people that came to commit genocide upon then. UN soldiers stood completely unable to act as they saw genocide happen, many of them were really angry about it too. They could've saved people, but they weren't allowed to.

I don't know when the UN last did anything constructive beyond writing angry letters and doing sanctions.

---------- Post added 2013-01-31 at 03:56 PM ----------

Originally Posted by FusedMass

Speaking from the prescriptive of the United States they generally like to point out the sweat shop like conditions China workers have to go through. Russia jailed a band because it spoke on Anti President. The US uses the UN for generally a ton of things. Seeking it out like a neutral party. In short they lead us to believe we are better at least when it comes to human rights..

However if United States ignores the UN ruling and Israel continues to build settlements. Then does it not give an excuse to other Country's to reject the UN when it calls on action for them. For example in Iran they tortured people and held them in Gitmo style conditions. They told the people they arrested. The United States does it as a way to excuse their own actions.

Because the US supplies the most troops and basicly pays for the UN to function. There would be no UN without the US. Whereas I have never ever heard of any Russian peacekeeping UN troops, nor any Chinese peacekeeping UN troops.

If the United States supports Israel right to Ignore them or even worse supports that. What happens when we need the UN for something. (We call on the UN for all sorts of things ..war crimes..human rights) does it not discredit us if we choose to ignore their ruling. How does that make us better then China or Russia who actually blocked the vote on sending troops to Syria in the early wake of the blood shed.

If it were any other country we would be invading. As history shows we don't need the UN's permission to wage wars so why should israel.

What the Chinese decide they want to do doesn't affect the UN's complete inability to act or do anything useful. Kosovo is a horrendous reminder of that, where people fleeing persecution were turned around into the arms of the people that came to commit genocide upon then. UN soldiers stood completely unable to act as they saw genocide happen, many of them were really angry about it too. They could've saved people, but they weren't allowed to.

I don't know when the UN last did anything constructive beyond writing angry letters and doing sanctions.

The point I made wasn't about what the UN has accomplished militarily. It was that it serves as a useful gauge of what's going on in the world of international sentiment, which is more important than I think a lot of people give it credit for.

'Twas a cutlass swipe or an ounce of lead
Or a yawing hole in a battered head
And the scuppers clogged with rotting red
And there they lay I damn me eyes
All lookouts clapped on Paradise
All souls bound just contrarywise, yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!

The point I made wasn't about what the UN has accomplished militarily. It was that it serves as a useful gauge of what's going on in the world of international sentiment, which is more important than I think a lot of people give it credit for.

If that's the only thing it's good for, we could probably make something much better and less costly than the UN to use as political forum.

If it were any other country we would be invading. As history shows we don't need the UN's permission to wage wars so why should israel.

I think you may be misunderstanding. I'm not saying we need them. However like when Bush went to the UN to seek a global effort in the war in Iraq. Despite their rejection. (We still went to war) we don't need their permission. Generally we like UN as a neutral party for peace keeping efforts. Like Human Rights..etc it generally doesn't look good if we ignore what they say and gives more excuses for other people to ignore them as well.

If it were any other country we would be invading. As history shows we don't need the UN's permission to wage wars so why should israel.

No-one needs the UN's permission if they want to make war. It's quite obvious that the UN is incapable of enforcing peace. And for powerful countries like the US, Russia and China, they basicly run the world so what the UN says matters squat to them.

I think you may be misunderstanding. I'm not saying we need them. However like when Bush went to the UN to seek a global effort in the war in Iraq. Despite their rejection. (We still went to war) we don't need their permission. Generally we like UN as a neutral party for peace keeping efforts. Like Human Rights..etc it generally doesn't look good if we ignore what they say and gives more excuses for other people to ignore them as well.

We only care what the UN says when it doesn't directly affect us (America). When another country breaks their rules then we are quick to jump on the UN bandwagon.

Not a surprise. I'm sure Israel will ignore the report and just keep doing what it has been.

Indeed. They did that for last reports too.

Or they'll say "oh no you didn't, we'll build 438578394 more settlements! take that" and go on their merry way and nobody will do anything because they're hypocryts and follow UN directions only when they're in their favour.